"All members of the guild are to return their old badge models. The new ones made in the grass continent have been found to be superior in utility, since they can teleport the user and up to three other pokémon back to certain special points. This utility solves the problem of having to escort a defeated outlaw from a long distance away back to the guild. Even if we are losing some of our cultural identity by giving up our locally manufactured badges, the benefits of the grass continent model are too great to be ignored."

-Shah Mienshao of the Odyssey Guild, first official decree.


Chapter XIII: Bond

-Marble Run (entrance), Western Desert-

The winds by the desert always made the most calming sounds at night. A strange mix of howling and whistling one could easily mistake its sounds with those of a ney.

Clang. Clang. Clang.

Sneasel was reminded of the many times he walked through a market or the busy streets of a city, only to hear the lovely music produced by those end-blown flutes. Indeed, he liked to replay those songs in his mind.

Clang. Clang. Clang.

For the Sneasel, these moments of silence and introspection were quite appreciated. He could unwind and allow his mind to ponder and-

"Ok, Sneasel!" The loud voice of the jangmo-o he was tasked with guiding broke his train of thought, "Which of the two: 'Shining barrage of doom' or 'Breakneck dragon assault of destruction'?"

The bounty hunter couldn't help but close his claws tightly into a fist, and feel his brow twitch in annoyance. That had to be the thirteenth 'cool name' the dragon had come up with. It was getting increasingly on his nerves.

Positive thoughts, Sneasel. Positive thoughts. You really should resist the urge to-

"Yeah, those are lame. Wait, I know! You'll loooove this one!" She was somehow jumping and clanging her scales even louder, despite the injuries still present in her scalie body, "'Dark dance of dragons and… Dandiness'?"

-Strangle the child.

Sneasel took a deep breath to calm himself. Or at least try to. The rock he was sitting on made him seem bigger than the girl that kept aiming all her questions at him.

"Ok. First: What." Sneasel calmly said, keeping his cool but still sounding annoyed, "second: The hell."

"Well, we need to pick a name for that cool move we did against those shaytans!" Her eyes seemed to shine as she remembered the fight they had earlier, "we were a-maaa-zing!~"

"No. No, we really don't." He rolled his eyes, "seriously. For a child that has been through at least two traumatic experiences, you are awfully jolly."

"Hah, can't traumatize me that easily!" She held her head up high, in an attempt to look regal, "In fact, you can't traumatize me at all! Dragons don't feel fear, you know!"

"Impressive. You live inside your own little bubble." Sneasel just quietly leered at the dragon-type. Then he shook his head and shrugged, looking away from her, letting go of his annoyance, "someone's gonna burst it someday. And it's not gonna be pretty."

Mirari tilted her head, genuinely not understanding what he was on about.

"Look, I appreciate your… enthusiasm. But your naivety will be the death of someone." This seemed surprisingly personal to the dark-type, the tone in his usually cold voice let that very clear for Mirari, "and I sure as hell would rather not be me."

"... I'm sorry." He expected everything but that reply from the little dragon.

"Hm?"

"I know I can be a bit much sometimes! It's just how I am. I don't like being negative, nor staying still." Mirari lowered her head, "I like, never had the chance to meet a real-deal explorer like yourself. You're so cool and strong! My mother didn't let me even talk about being an explorer."

Sneasel was quiet, he had to bite his lower lip to remain stoic and emotionless in his expression.

"I… really wanna learn from you! I have so much to ask, so much to do! And tagging along with you on this little adventure feels like the first step, you know? The first step of finally chasing my dreams! Of proving myself! Getting to see and experience things that were previously just meaningless words to me!"

Once more Sneasel noticed that her eyes seemed to shine with passion as she spoke. If he had to be fair, these two… surprisingly battle-ready children helped quite a lot in their previous encounter. Sneasel hated direct conflicts with multiple enemies. That togepi and this jangmo-o stumbled a lot, but they helped him out more than they got in the way. Still, he would rather break his arm than to say that to this hyperactive dragoness. Her demeanor had a certain 'fire' that was always present, much to his annoyance. Though this time, it didn't make Sneasel feel like strangling her.

In fact, his expression softened for but a second. Thankfully, she was too busy staring into nowhere to see it.

"One question. I'll give you one." His simple choice of words immediately made her spirits increase once more, her beak-muzzle opening to fire a thousand words. "Just one. Don't push it."

She closed her mouth and nodded, still managing to smile, looking up at him and pondering which will be her golden question. Dreading to ask something boring she'll regret.

"Hmmmmmmmmmmmm…. Let's seeeeeeee…." The jangmo-o girl was deep in thought searching for the first thing that came to mind, but discarting it for another more fun alternative.

Silence took the two, now only the faint sound of clanging scales, and the melodic wind outside could be heard.

Just when he thought the little dragon would give up, she finally spoke, "you mentioned you were on a mission, yeah? What was it? You completed it? How was it?"

Arceus-fucking-dammit. I was trying to avoid that topic.

The curious Mirari could only detect a slight twitch on the corner of Sneasel's mouth.

"I count four questions." Before Mirari could protest,he lifted his claw and continued, "But I will say that it's a mission to take down an outlaw. I hope to complete it." And rip that cowardly krookodile's head off her neck.

"Wow! A real outlaw? That's amazing! I've always wanted to defeat a baddie! Please take me with you! Let me help!" She soon started one of her endless blabbering sessions so he was quick to cut her off.

"No. Outlaws are a lot like shaytans, evil, uncaring and vicious. But one thing they are not is stupid. They'll not just rush to slash your throat." Seeing how unfazed (if anything, she seemed more excited after his description), he decided to act. As if to demonstrate, he bore his teeth and claws at her.

In a flash, he was no longer on top of the rock, but behind her, "they'll rush you."

She jumped and turned around, only to be tripped by a quick kick on each of her back feet. She fell on the floor, and tried to turn over and get up by instinct only to be stopped by her tail being stepped on, "deceive you with their dirty tricks."

Mirari struggled, using her superior size and weight to try and break free, only to cough and wheeze in pain. Sneasel had stomped on her underbelly and was squeezing hard, making it hard to breathe, "then break your hope."

"And at then," the jangmo-o was about to struggle more, but even moving her head was impossible. The older pokémon had grabbed her heart-shaped head scale and held it firmly in place. It was then she felt cold, sharp tips on her neck, touching her just enough so she would freeze in place, but not enough to pierce her scales, "they'll slash your throat." To demonstrate his point, he pretended to slash her neck.

He needed to be harsh. This was the only way she would understand his point. Sure, that could give her nightmares for a while, but it was a small price to pay. His bright yellow eyes looked down at her in the same intimidating manner he used on his 'jobs'. It unnerved her, he could feel it.

Though he had to admit, Sneasel did not expect her to close her eyes and smile right after, "sounds… fun!"

He growled, stomping on her harder, slowly lowering his gaze closer and closer to her. He felt her heartbeat spike, but somehow she still had that fake smile on her beak-muzzle.

The dark type then closed his eyes with a sigh, and let her go. He jumped off of her, into the rocky floor, then climbed back up on the rock to sit down.

"Life is not a game, kid. You'll paint the little fantasy world you live in with blood if you keep this up." He wasn't hiding the contempt in his voice.

She wanted to retort, but hearing this once more from the pokémon she admired only made her look down in defeat.

His expression mellowed out once he was outside her view. He laid his back on the rock, with his claws behind his head in a lazy pose. Sneasel closed his eyes.

"We had a rough day, and have a long trip ahead." His stoicness was back, yet in it, a hint of emotion, "but don't worry, you'll be in Gobi in no time. For now, go rest with your little brother. Focus on taking care of him."

She smiled and even laughed merrily, "hah, I told you already dummy! Lawry's not my brother!" Despite saying that her tail seemed to slowly wag behind her for some reason.

How can this girl just keep switching her mood all the time? Somehow, the gloom from before already seems to be far away from her. Was it because she was thinking of that togepi?

"So you're saying you don't want to take care of him?"

"No! I'll protect Lawrence, of course! I just mean like, we're not siblings or anything! Arceus forbid, my mom doesn't even let me have a father…"

"There's brotherhood by blood, sure. But that's not really a requirement nor the only one that exists."

"Huh?" His words seemed to surprise her.

Sneasel lazily scratched the single pink feather on his ear using his claws, shifting positions on the rock and waving dismissively with his other hand, "I'll let you figure out that one by yourself. Go and rest so you have more energy to annoy me tomorrow."

"You don't seem annoyed! I could even say you liked the chat!"

"Oh yeah? Why's that?"

"I don't really see a smile as a sign of annoyance!"

The sneasel was about to ask what the girl meant, only to notice his little smile, on the corner of his mouth. Perhaps of amusement at her antics. Even he couldn't really explain it.

"Hm. I just remembered something nice. Nothing to do with you, kid." He bluffed, trying his best to justify it, "now stop pestering me."

Mirari saw Lawrence laying down on the bed and decided to move towards him, "sure. Just remember to sleep mister Sneasel!" She brightly moved away, pleased with herself.

"Hm. Whatever." He turned his head, hiding that traitorous faint smile.

He was pleasantly surprised to notice that only silence followed his remark. He half expected the ever so talkative jangmo-o to keep pressing the matter. Hopefully, his little stunt from before worked and she got intimidated, or perhaps she was just tired and didn't pay much attention to his attempts at being rude. Both worked for the sneasel, really.

"Oh, one more thing mister!" She cut off the pleasant silence, much to his annoyance.

"What now?"

"Those shaytans from before…" Her voice sounded weary.

"What about them?"

"Have you ever seen something like them before?" She half-whispered, hoping he'd have answers for the million questions on her head.

"... Not really. Void shadows usually live in dungeons as far as I know. Or knew." He sighs, his small smile soon turning to a grimace.

"Yeah. I was… Yeah. Not like, the best thing ever. But at least we kicked their tails! Or erm, their… Rocky behinds?" The jangmo-o pondered what was the best way of saying it

The child's silliness made Weavile stare at her awkwardly with his unamused expression, "just… go get some sleep."

Unable to come with an answer to the wording-dilemma she herself came with, Mirari yawned at the suggestion.

"Sleeping does sound really appealing, not gonna lie… goodnight mister Sneasel!" She suddenly perked up again, only to turn around and leave the ice-type to his thoughts for good.

"Hm. Strange girl."


Sneasel only remained there, laying down, but unable to sleep. Despite his lazy pose, he was always alert, closing his eyes to fake unawareness. Pretending he could get the sleep he craved for.

It was then that a loud, booming noise made him jump from his facade. It was louder than the howling of the winds, its screech comparable to the noises of the creatures that had unnerved him in that fight in the middle of the desert.

He desperately looked around, what could make such terrible sounds? What horrible creature wou-

His eyes rolled when he stared at the direction they were coming from. The culprit was the jangmo-o. She was snoring. Even if it sounded more like roaring or choking, perhaps.

The dragon had curled up around the petit fairy-type, acting as a sort of barrier while her face pressed against his fragile body. Her maw was open as she produced those annoying sounds.

Sneasel dropped his guard, cursing himself for getting so riled up for nothing. How could he ever forget about how loud she was during sleep? He had no idea how that fairy could even rest with that loud girl, guess he was that exhausted after the stunt he pulled. They looked cute sleeping like that, he had to admit. Made him remember … simpler times.

Unbeknownst to the dark-type, his right paw started to shiver. When he felt it, he used his other one to hold it, grunting in annoyance. Only for both of them to shiver as well. Not from the cold, but from the memory that kept repeating in his mind. Those criminals he believed he had ended returned, and viciously attacked him, locking Sneasel in some sort of prison of pure darkness. Almost like a mini-dungeon of sorts.

He slapped his forehead with his white clawed paws. Dammit, had those creatures really disturbed him so? He was usually composed, fearless and uncaring. Then why was he… worried? Curious? Afra-

No. He was a hunter. He was strong. Prey felt afraid. Sneasel swore he would never again feel like that, ever. Weakness, powerlessness, fear… those were the feelings of the weak.

A realization suddenly crossed his mind. Maybe those random emotions came from the fact that a child was the reason he was still alive. He didn't know what that togepi did, but it saved them from that mess. A weak, powerless and cowardly togepi had aided a strong pokémon like him. It was insulting! Infuriating! He couldn't explain but he felt as if pure hatred was slowly creeping in his heart more and more, as his thoughts focused on the togepi-

"Um. mister S-Sneasel?" A sweet-sounding, youthful voice broke him from the trance.

He saw the little spike ball pokémon staring up at him, rubbing one of his eyes tiredly.

The strange feelings that crept inside his heart suddenly dissipated, leaving Sneasel even more confused. What was that sudden rush of emotions all about? But not long after, he returned to his cold persona, "isn't it still nap-time for you?"

"Y-Yeah. I'm still pretty s-snoozy." Yawned Lawrence, "but I dunno… I felt the need to come over. My body moved on its own…"

Sneasel couldn't help but cock his head, not really getting what Togepi meant, "sleepwalking isn't great for your health. You should rest. There is much to do tomorrow, long trip ahead and all."

"P-Probably..." He sighed, trying to supress another yawn, "but you're not alright."

Sneasel was taken back at the boy's sudden forwardness, "excuse me? And how can you be so sure of that?"

"It's a feeling I have." Lawrence shook his head and tried to vanquish the remaining sleepiness off of him, "Miss Komm- I-I mean, my m-mother said I have a knack for picking up emotions randomly or something. I guess that's acting up."

"Your little 'emotion detector' has some interference, then." Sneasel replied, turning away with a scowl.

"Maybe. But even still, I feel like I should talk to you." Lawrence yawned once more, sitting right next to the dark-type.

"You kids sure have stamina. After that stunt, a baby pokémon such as yourself should be in the medical ward."

"Y-Yeah probably. I'm just lucky, I guess." He says, fiddling with his pendant. "Or unlucky. Depends on how you l-look at it."

"Considering you've so far, got separated from your mother under mysterious circumstances, ended up stranded in the middle of the desert, got ambushed by a bunch of strange void shadows, and have to sleep hearing that." Sneasel points to the snoring dragoness, "I would say surviving balances things out."

The togepi was quiet, still fiddling with that strange pendant. At first Sneasel thought he had hurt the boy's feelings, but started to suspect it was something else entirely. Was that stuttering child hiding something? Perhaps about this bad-luck topic in particular?

For a few more moments, there was silence between the duo. The only sounds being the winds outside, and Mirari's snoring. The togepi seemed to be lost in thought, this could be his natural state considering how quiet and shy this child seems to be. Yet unlike with the jangmo-o, Sneasel didn't feel nearly as annoyed when he spoke.

"Um. W-Well." Lawrence broke the silence, Sneasel's eyes wandering to look down at the tired fairy, "is it M-Mirari's snoring?"

"...What?"

"The thing that's got you so g-gloomy." Lawrence gestured to the Jangmo-o right behind him, "I know Pic- I-I mean, our other close friend, often complained about i-it."

"Eh. Heard much worse sounds, to be honest." Sneasel shrugged.

"... S-Seriously?" Lawrence was legitimely stunned.

"Trust me, you don't want to know."

"... Probably." He nodded, looking at those loud sounds.

Once again, there was silence between the two. The differences between this boy and his little sister were like day and night, Sneasel thought. At least this togepi knew the value of silence.

Sneasel sat down, this time not on top of the rock, but on the floor next to the togepi still, with his back leaned against the rough surface of the big stone behind him. Rearranging himself into a lazy pose, eyes closed so he could relax, but his constant shifting showed his inability to sleep.

Lawrence mimicked the older pokémon, sitting next to him, but not really being able to put his stumpy hands behind his head. Sneasel opened one of his shiny eyes just enough to see the scene, getting a snicker from the stoic bounty hunter.

"You really don't have a name?" Once more, Lawrence questioned the older pokémon.

Differently from Mirari, Lawrence's questioning didn't annoy him nearly as much, even if he wasn't at all interested in the conversation, Sneasel decided not to be rude with the kind kid.

"No." He answered simply.

"You're lying."

That got another snicker from the sneasel, "hah. You got a sharp tongue."

"Oh, sorry if I o-offended you! Um." He quickly corrected himself, trying his best to explain his intentions, "guess it slipped. But um, you do have a name other than just 'Sneasel', don't you?"

Soon, the dark-furred pokémon grimaced once more, shifting a bit more, "by Arceus, you kids love to gossip."

"U-Um. It's not that it's just…" Lawrence scrambled his mind looking for the right words, but Sneasel interrupted him before he could come up with something.

"Let me teach you something, kid." He started, opening his eyes and staring to the horizon, "names are for friends you plan to stab on the back, foes and/or lovers."

He continued, "hopefully, I am none of those to you."

"W-Well… I just… I-I…" He struggled to reply, Sneasel's intimidating gaze now looking down to the little chick pokémon."I-I… um. Thank you." He finally let out.

"... Excuse me?"

"I mean. Um. Thanks for helping me and Mirari. T-Thanks for saving us from those monsters. Thanks f-for sheltering us, and for taking c-care of our wounds. And thank you for t-taking us to Gobi to meet with our… mother." He spoke in quick succession, looking away from Sneasel, "if it wasn't for you, we would have died in the desert for sure. Or to t-those m-monsters. You didn't have to help us… so t-thank you, mister Sneasel. I just… wanted to know the name of the h-hero that is helping us so much, and asking for nothing in return. T-To thank you p-properly…"

The older pokémon was quiet, his emotionless face just staring at the small fairy. Yet Lawrence could feel a… disturbance in his heart. Was it joy? Regret? Pride? He didn't know, but his sincere words seemed to have an impact on the sneasel.

"... This is gonna sound cliche, but I'm not a hero." He merely replied, turning away from Lawrence to look away again. Sneasel knew he was far from one.

Lawrence smiled bashfully at him, "you're one t-to me! And one for Mirari too, if you somehow didn't notice!"

Maybe that's why he was smiling so much. Maybe that's what was making Sneasel feel warm on the inside. Maybe being loved, for once, was better than being feared. Perhaps being thanked was better than to be scowled at.

But reality soon came back, and Sneasel shook that illusion away. That was simply not how things were. No matter how nice it felt, or how easy it was to embrace those ideas, they were simply pleasant lies. The reality was much, much… harder to accept, but he revelled in it. Or at least that was what he told himself.

"Promise me you will not laugh." He closed his eyes shut.

"L-Laugh?"

"At my name. Promise me you will not laugh, nor go around telling it to every pokémon that asks." He said, in a dead-serious and almost threatening tone.

"W-Why would I?"

"Promise me. By your mother."

That made Lawrence look down for a moment, making him remember his… situation, but deciding to let it aside for now, he merely nodded, "I promise, mister. By my… mother." That he didn't remember anything of...

Sneasel opened his golden eyes, leering down at the fairy, who met his gaze with his own. In the child's eyes, there was not a hint of mischief, unlike Mirari, nor of any ill-will.

Why the hell was he doing this. Sneasel must be more lonely than he thought, if a baby pokémon was breaking his walls with such ease. Perhaps it was some sort of deep instinct to trust and protect the innocent, perhaps this togepi was much more cunning than Sneasel could predict, but in any case, he threw caution to the wind.

"Sundance."


-Moss Gallery, Eastern Desert-

Floor: 9

A cloaked figure calmly walked through the dungeon halls, their dark robe contrasting the baby-blue walls covered in bright green moss around them. Their posture was crooked forward, giving them a slightly animalistic appearance, a strange in-between of biped and quadruped. Around their chest, a worn out bag could be seen, packed with supplies.

Each step they took made a loud noise, the many puddles under their feet not doing any favors to help them blend. Not like the figure cared much anyway. The many rivers that surrounded the straightforward path they were taking in search of the next row of stairs reflecting the pokémon with some distortion.

Their clothes seemed to be quite old, with many thorns on the fabric, exposing their grey and golden scales to the elements. The soft melody of her clanging scales mixing with the splashing of the puddles to form a strangely pleasant song.

Or at least, a strangely pleasant song for the little electric mouse that currently resides inside the cloaked dragon's hood. Pichu, or rather 'Zarina' as she should call herself on this trip of theirs, allowed herself to drift off to the song being passively produced by Kommo-o, or rather Shahrazad. She had never really heard anything that was quite close to a kommo-o's clanging scales mixed with their footsteps in the water.

If Zarina was to be fair, she never quite listened to music properly. The only real contact she had with it was through writings in some of the books Miss Shahrazad gave her. So any melody, as silly as it was, was greatly appreciated by the little one.

She had her head pressed against Shahrazad's neck, piggyback-riding the scalie dragon whilst being protected by the ragged dark cloak she wore. Her only concern being to keep holding on in case of any bumps in the path they took, but even still the kommo-o was careful enough to always be prepared to protect her should any disturbance appear. Her leaning-forward posture greatly helped Zarina with her balance as well.

A dark-colored, eyeless poliwhirl suddenly jumped out of one of the rivers that surrounded the rocky path they were taking. They were ready to unleash a bubblebeam at the trespasser, only to be met with a nonchalant tail-slap, that hit it with such force that it exploded as it collided with the water surface in a loud splash, causing the river to ripple. The other shaytans that tried to get in the way didn't fare much better. Shahrazad seemed to be reacting almost automatically, no hesitation or worry ever present, her mind focused only on leaving this place as fast as possible.

Zarina was quiet through most of the trip. Ever since she tried questioning the adult pokémon when they were resting, she received only silence and dodgy, short answers.

"I wish I had my daughter's energy and eagerness to speak. But sadly as an adult, I fear my words might cause more harm than good…"

It broke Shahrazad's heart to have to keep hiding so much from the little pichu, but it simply wasn't the time to drop such traumatic information on a child. So much like she always did, Kommo-o decided to just don't talk about it. At least not for now…

"What hurts more: a painful truth, or the lack of certainty?"

Yet it seemed to be causing a friction between the two. And the kommo-o nicknamed Shahrazad knew all so well that it was her fault for that too, but as much as it hurt, it was for the best. Every breath she took was to help the children under her care.

"Daughter, human. I have much to apologize for. And so very much to explain. It pains my heart to leave you two by yourselves. Please, please remain safe. You two are strong, the strongest I know. Same with you too, little one."

One of her dark blue eyes couldn't help but wander to where Zarina was resting.

"Pichu. I never wanted to drag you into this. By the ancients, why must I keep causing a storm wherever I go?"

Her heart sank when the Pichu noticed her staring, and turned her gaze away not soon after.

"My vow of silence only creates more and more problems. My daughter hates me. The human distrusts me. And now, Pichu was growing distant from her as well. I wonder what is on her mind…"

Four dark-poliwags and another eyeless poliwhirl suddenly surrounded them from all sides. Cursing herself for breaking her focus on their objective, thanks to these negative thoughts, Shahrazad used one of her mighty paws to hold Zarina in her back.

She dashed forward, kicking one poliwag right in the face, enough to launch it towards one of its podmates, so vicious was the impact that they became dark sand as soon as the two shaytans collided against the wall.

She had to block with her single arm the barrage of bubbles that issued, being sure to turn and leave her back in a blind spot where the bubbles couldn't hit the pichu under her cloak.

"Hm. I can't help but think of… him as well. The only reason why we survived his rampage was due to…"

More and more bubbles kept being fired, until Shahrazad couldn't block one, that hit her straight in the muzzle. It was more of an annoyance than anything. And yet, fury took over every scale on the kommo-o's body.

"The only reason why we all are alive is because…"

She dashed forward, facing the bubblebeam head-on. Using her single armored arm like a shield, she marched forward and grabbed the poliwag that was the closest to her. Her claw pierced his face, and her palm blocked his mouth, making him unable to shoot the bubbles.

"Because once upon a time…"

But the other shaytan kept shooting at her, damaging her side and injuring her cloak. With a growl, she lifted the poliwag she had grabbed, squeezing its skull, pointing towards the one that was firing, using him as a temporary shield that kept absorbing the bubbles passively.

"... We were…"

Her grip on the shaytan tightened, enough to make its bones crack, her palm creating a ball of pure aura energy, making the poliwag's flesh shine a royal blue color as an aura sphere was created inside it.

"... He was my…"

She remembered a beautiful forest, lit up by the bioluminescence of the mushrooms it contained. It was bursting with color, yet in her memory it was all black and white. Many puddles of water and even some moss on the rocks revealed the misty rainforest's usual climate, it was a very unusual place for the usually barren sand continent.

She was young back then, merely a hakamo-o. Her only thoughts were her assignment, she had her black, sun-shaped badge proudly showing in her bag. In the middle of it, a silver stone to show her rank. Yet in this memory, it was grey.

"E-Excuse-me!" Came a young, masculine voice from behind her.

Driven by instinct, she turned around and kicked him straight in the chest, knocking him backwards.

Before he could even process what was happening, she was on top of him, knee pressing against his furred chest, her claws holding his wrists, muzzle growling to show her wicked teeth, as her eyes leered down at the figure.

Yet on his face, she saw no hint of fear. Quite the opposite, she saw a strange sense of curiosity, even as she immobilized and threatened to injure him. This pokémon was biped, didn't seem to have anything to identify allegiance to any guild or group. He was male, and seemed to be her age give or take.

"O-Oh wow! You guys here sure have a strange form of greeting!" His eyes were red, crimson like blood. His short fur was faint purple, almost grey while his large tail was violet. He was the only thing with that color in her memory. His face reminded him of a meowth, but he didn't look like he wanted to scam Hakamo-o out of her pocket change, "the other folk from down south threw rocks at me and called me funny names! They were nice."

Her angry expression soon turned into one of awkward confusion, before she bore her teeth again and pressed her knee against his chest harder, "who are you? Are you with raticate's gang? Answer!'

She never saw a pokémon quite like him. Perhaps he was one of those strange ones from the mist continent? Or maybe even those pompous pokémon from the water continent?

He coughed and widened his eyes in discomfort, "geez lady! You're making it hard to breathe! What's a 'gang' anyway? Is it something related to 'wang'? 'Cause I've been called that before!"

She was taken back, for a moment having an unreadable expression. The innocence and naivety in which he spoke quickly made her drop her guard.

"Soooo… Yeah! You can call me by the many nicknames I've collected in my short travels! Which include, but are not limited to: Boogeymon, freak, wang, blabbermouth and my personal favorite, 'deformed persian'!"

Soon enough, the hakamo-o was holding back something. Her face expression. She let go of him, her clawed hands covering her muzzle.

He got up to a sitting position, rubbing his aching chest with his three-fingered hands, looking at her with confused eyes.

Around them, like a painting, everything started to be colored. The black and white was substituted with the bright green of the plants, the light brown of the ground under them, the bright rays of sun, and the baby-blue puddles of water scattered on the ground.

"A-Are you okay, lady? Have I said something bad! Oh gosh, I'm sorry if I-" He saw her struggling for some reason, trying to hide her face from him, but the male pokémon cut himself short when he noticed his fur was drenched! She had pressed him against one of the puddles on the floor!

"-Oh dang it! I'm all wet too! hm. I wonder if that can become a nickname too! Maybe 'damp-y'?" As soon as he declared that, he was cut off by snickers. Then a mix between a roar and laugher escaped from the dragoness.

"I'm sorry!" The hakamo-o spoke, still failing miserably to stop her laughing.

"W-Wha- Oh! Have I made a joke!? I'm usually the only one laughing when I attempt humor!"

She kept loudly laughing, now touching her chest to avoid getting out of air, "It's just… I expected some big, tough bandit to try and attack me… and I met you!" She said, between fits of laughter.

He was confused at first, but soon he smiled back and started to laugh along with her. Not really getting what she meant, or even what was so funny, but just going with the flow. Now their surroundings were bright with the many colors of the memory proper.

The pleasant memory was soon interrupted by another bubble bursting in her face, as well as the desperate wiggles of the poliwag still in her grip, making her snarl in anger once more.

Her eyes widened in fury, before she finished channeling the ball of energy, making the shaytan that had the move inside it shriek loudly. With a single step forward, and a violent swing of her arm, she shot the aura sphere at the other poliwag, disintegrating the one she had in between her claws. A bright burst of royal blue light later, there was only dust where the enemies stood.

She let go of Zarina, now sure that danger was gone. With her two arms free, she wiped the water off of her cloak and scales.

"I'm not calling you any of those stupid names!" She huffed, the strange feline pokémon floating after her as she tried to just complete her mission.

"Well, I'm not calling you by your species! What if there's another of your species? I don't wanna lose you in a crowd of hakamo-o or something!"

"I wish you'd lose me!"

"Impossible! If I close my eyes and focus hard enough, I can find anyone I like!"

"Then why the hell did you just say that- Oh, nevermind!" She just kept walking, hoping this annoying male would just lose interest and move on.

Suddenly, he flew in front of her, his two hands touching her chest, to make her halt, "I know! How about-"

Though he was silenced by a dragon-tail straight to his face, tossing him aside, into another puddle, "ah! Now I'll have to dry up again!"

As Shahrazad once more got lost in her endless chain of memories, she didn't notice the eyeless poliwhirl silently swimming on the lake around her, using the fact that she was distracted still to get the upper hand.

With endless rage within those empty eye-sockets, the shaytan jumped high in the air, its fist shining a dark purple glow.

"I'm not letting you name me! And I'm not naming you! We just met!" The young dragon pokémon huffed again, whilst the strange feline kept floating after her.

"Aw, but I have no name either! And by what you've told me, you're as lonely as me!

"I speak to you hoping you'll shut up for good."

"In any case, you're the only pokémon that has spoken to me for so long!"

"And now I regret it. Dearly."

"Then let's talk about something you like! Hmmmm... Leeeet's seee… what's your favorite-"

The strange feline was cut off by a loud sound that made the unaware hakamo-o jump, turning around to see multiple seed bombs, rock throws and other projectiles being hurled her way. What really worried her were the many icicle spikes that were scattered in the killer barrage. She was caught off guard, and simply closed her eyes and braced for impact.

But after a while, she opened her blue eyes to see all the projectiles harmlessly bouncing off on a large, green barrier that formed around her.

She was as surprised as the culprits, which she easily identified in between the grass and the trees.

"That was close! Didn't know that it rained sticks, stones and seeds!" The strange pokémon spoke cheerfully, with one of his three-digit hands pointing at the Hakamo-o, the protect still around her, "this place is so weird! And I thought rainwater was annoying!"

Both the dragon-type, and the bandits stared awkwardly at the 'saviour'.

Shahrazad prepared to activate her own barrier, only to feel movement coming from her cloak. With shocking speed, came a pichu that kicked the evil poliwhirl right in the stomach, blue lightning shocking the creature's entire body in a flash, dazing it enough for Kommo-o to react by jumping up to meet the water shaytan, and land a vicious dragon-tail on its head, sending it flying towards the rocky wall were it crashed with a loud bang. Three blasts of thunder served as the coup de grace, frying the eyeless water-type before it could even react.

The two female pokémon then fell on the floor, as dark sand dissipated around them.

"The comotion woke you up, little one?"

"Not really. But the water sure was hard to ignore…" Zarina said, showing her wet fur to the adult.

"I apologize. I suppose I was a bit careless." She kneeled to reach close to eye-level with the young electric-type mouse, removing her wet robe and searching for something in her improvised bag, "here, let me…"

Zarina stood still as the huge dragoness picked a strange scarf, similar to the one Lawrence had used to help her clean her house back in the village. Shahrazad started to wipe her fur, her giant claws doing so in surprisingly gentle motions.

"It's okay, miss Kom- I mean, Shahrazad." Pichu tried to stop her with her stumpy paws, to no avail. She could only embarrassedly look away as the big dragon groomed her yellow fur with the scarf.

Four pokémon were rounded up, all knocked out. A cloyster, kabutops, sudowoodo and an alolan-raticate were piled up and tied up together, looking beaten up to near death. The beautiful forest around them was scarred by signs of battle.

Hakamo-o had a few bruises here and there, whilst the strange feline had some cuts in his otherwise lithe body. He had a scarf in his hand, using it to wipe the water off his short fur.

"Hm. The chief is gonna have a field day questioning these poor fools." The dragoness cracked her neck and her knuckles, picking up her black, sun-shaped badge, fondling it with her claws.

"They were pretty feisty, weren't they?" The grey-ish purple feline added, poking his wounds curiously as he finished drying up.

"...They were trying to kill you. You do realise that, right?"

"Oh? Really? I thought they just liked to play rough! Like the other pokémon I tried talking to!" His red eyes glimmered with his signature, sincere innocence, "so that's why you're tying them up! Huh!"

"You're a moron." Hakamo-o facepalmed in annoyance, but she couldn't help but let out a smile just in the corner of her mouth, "but. You're a really nice moron."

"Oh, yay! I'm a nice moron! That's probably the nicest thing someone called me!" The feline pokémon giggled. It was infectious, and soon the dragon giggled back.

Her badge interrupted the two with loud beeps, the silver stone in the middle shining a red light. She picked it up and leaned her head closer to listen to it.

"Ok… Yes. Correct, I did. No… no signs of any other pokémon. At misty forest, sir. Ok. I'll be on my way." She said in quick succession to the badge, before it turned off.

The strange, feline only stared curiously, as she frowned and looked at him, "look. Thanks for everything, but I really gotta go. The chief wants these outlaws questioned ASAP. Said I have less than a day to return, and he's very strict about schedules…"

"Aw… I see… Can't I come with you? It was fun being around you!" The dragoness was surprised by his forwardness, but she had come to expect it, given how quirky and bubbly this strange pokémon was.

"... Won't you slow me down?"

"Oh no, I float!" He offered her the now wet scarf back, to which she just let him hang to it.

"... That's not what I- Oh, forget it." She sighed, turning to grab the fainted kabutops and raticate, carrying them on each shoulder, the other pokémon being taken simultaneously, being dragged against the floor by the rope that bound them together to their gangmates.

As soon as she started to walk away, she felt the heavy weight on her shoulders slowly vanishing, when she looked up, she saw a purple aura surrounding each of the four pokémon carrying them up in the air, just above her head.

"Figured you needed some help! You did say you were on a tight schedule!" The red-eyed psychic smiled once again.

"There. You no longer have the risk of hypothermia, and all its related illnesses." Kommo-o said as she pocketed the scarf.

"Thanks, I guess…" Pichu kept looking away.

Shahrazad's eyes hid her pain at the small pokémon's actions. With her claws inside the small bag she carried, she felt the letter buried in there. Sandshrew's letter.

Her paw squeezed it, slowly bringing it out, "little pichu the-"

"Miss Shahrazad! Look!" The electric-type cut her off, pointing where the shaytan-poliwhirl had collided. When Shahrazad looked at the direction, she saw the mossy wall had crumbled, revealing a secret path in the otherwise straight-forward dungeon. Unlike the watery, mossy dungeon, this path was dry. The rocks that composed the path were as black as obsidian. In the middle of it, stairs. But unlike normal stairs, these were made of the same obsidian colored rock.

"A false wall, and a secret passageway?" Without even trying to, Shahrazad could detect a mysterious energy coming from inside that place. The same she felt inside that dungeon where Lawrence and Mirari fought against sableye, the same she felt in the cave where the shape had ambushed them, and the same dark, vile energy she felt years ago…

And the same one she had felt inside him.


"Hey."

"Yeeees?"

"By the ancients I'll regret this. But I guess if it would please you, I may allow you to give me a nickname…"

"Really? Oh man, you're so cool, Hakamo! But I'll only nickname you if you're okay with it!"

"Again, it's fine. Been having to interact with a lot of Mawal pokémon for work anyway, maybe having at least a nickname would help."

"Sure thing! Then I have the perfect one!"

"I swear, if it's something ridiculous…"

"It's not! It's from a story I heard before! It's-"


"Hmm?" Lawrence cocked his head to the side.

"Sundance. My name. It's… Sundance."

Lawrence was quiet for a second, processing his words.

"I know, I'm a dark/ice type. Yes, I'm nocturnal and whatnot. Yes, it's a silly name that just fuses two words together. Yes, yes. Spare me."

"I like it."

Wha-

"I really like it. I think it suits you! It's a very nice name!" Lawrence smilled.

Sneasel glared at the togepi, but then closed his eyes again and decided to take the compliment.

"Thank you, mister Sundance. T-Thanks for everything!" The way he said it made Sneasel's heart stop for a second, reminding him of a time long past. A warmer, happier and more colorful time, when the world wasn't black and white, nor grey.

"Hm. Thank me when it's all over… 'Lawrence', was it?" Sneasel tried the strange name on his tongue.

"Ah. T-That's right, I never told you my name outright, did I?"

"I got it from your sister. She loves to blabber."

"S-She's not my- Oh and, that she does…" Lawrence quickly cut himself, as if afraid to reveal too much, "I'm Lawrence, yeah! N-Nice to meet you, mister Sundance!"

Sundance noticed how energetic the togepi got the more they talked. How he was no longer sleepy, exhausted from the battle before, and even was a bit more… bold and less shy overall. It was as if Lawrence was feeding on the sneasel's own happy energy and using it as a battery… the happy energy he himself created.

"Hm. In any case, I think that's enough for now. I do have some questions for you. In particular about that stunt you pulled back in the desert, but we have a long trip ahead. I have some… business to take care of before I drop you two on Gobi, so I would very much appreciate it if you were well-rested." Sundance declares, closing his eyes and remaining in his lazy pose, noticing by instinct the slight color change on the dark skies, and the shift in the winds, "The sun is soon to rise. Try to sleep a little, even if that dragoness' terrible sounds won't allow you to."

"O-Okay then, mister Sundace! I'll try and rest now!" He nodded.

"Drop the 'mister'. No need for formalities, I told you that before. I'm not even that much older than you anyway." The cat-weasel pokémon grumbled, "and please don't call me by name in public."

"S-Sure thing, Mi- I mean, Sundance!" Lawrence smiled bashfully, "We can talk more later I guess! I-I would love to know more about you!"

The fairy then turned away and moved towards the sleeping dragon, failing to notice the big smile on Sundance's mouth.

Guess opening up every once in a while isn't so bad.


-?-

Under the night sky, a red canine pokémon was staring up, basking in the darkness of the night. He was biped, even if laying down on his back made it seem like he was quadruped. A mane of fur covers its back and shoulders, sweeping forward over its head to form a crescent moon shape. On either side of its body, just below the shoulders, two small rocks resembling claws poke out of said mane. Impatiently, he waited for reports on how their mission was going.

"Least it beats gettin' yelled at." He smirked, staring up to the stars above, merrily counting each of them to pass the time. His pinkish eyes glowed in the darkness. Unlike most others of his kin, who weren't even fond of wearing scarves, this particular midnight lycanroc wore a long dark-blue overcoat that covered most of his body, leaving only the front to show. On his fit chest, a large scar cut through his fur, running down his body, stopping by his sides, part of it hidden inside the coat. A beautiful piece of black velvet with golden markings was wrapped around his waist, covering his hips and stomach.

Despite the fact he was enjoying the serene night, he absolutely refused to stare at the moon. It made him scowl just thinking of it.

"Boss! Boss!" Came the rushed voice of a male magmar, that ran his way and quickly bowed in respect.

"Hm? Speak up, boy! Why're ya botherin' me!?" He barked, his muzzle was closed, but the magmar could feel the sharp teeth underneath it ready to lash out as soon as the boss was annoyed.

"We couldn't get in contact with Krookodile's crew, sir. Her underlings, graveler, krokorok and the geodudes don't answer. They haven't reported in days either!" The magmar said, shaking and trembling, clearly scared to be the one to deliver this message.

"Now that's a surprise, given how talkative they were weeks ago. Maybe the ol' ground hag finally met her match? I doubt it." He got up from stretching his limbs, and shaking his body much like a dog would, "but! Her lily-livered mateys are probably six feet under, if they're as quiet as you say."

"What should we do, boss? Should we spread out our main group to aid them?" The nervous magmar questioned, always respectfully.

"As much as I'd love gettin' in a scuffle with fellow explorers or maybe some bounty-hunters, we have more pressin' matters to attend to. Where's Salazzle? How's the search going?" The midnight lycanroc took a step out of the large rock he was sitting on, only for a rock spike to grow out of the ground to meet his paw, then another to meet the other one, creating steps that went further down, until he finally had his two paws touching the floor.

Despite him being much bigger than the rock-type, Magmar bowed until he seemed smaller, "She's with the others inside still. No sign of anything of value so far, though."

The lycanroc snarled, making the fire-type feel like he was freezing from pure fear.

"One more reason for us not to help that scallywag Krookodile. She's a mercenary, she's on her own. And how about the other hired 'mons?" Questioned the canine, never once changing his intimidating facial expression.

"You mean Perrserker's crew? Last time I checked they were looking for clues at Moss Gallery, boss."

"Hm. That's the big dungeon that connects the deserts, eh? He's quite far. Try to contact him, maybe he will be slightly more competent than Krookodile. But don't give up on her yet, maybe she'll reach out… if she knows what's good for her anyway." The lycanroc then turned around and started walking away, the lower bits of his overcoat dragging across the ground.

"Boss, where are you going?"

"It's a beautiful night, matey. I'll go for a walk. Don't forget to inform the mercenaries and the rest of our crew of what I told ya." He stopped to leer at the other pokémon, to make sure he got it.

"Y-Yes sir! Report immediately if they see a fairy and dragon type pokemon travelling together!" The scared magmar got up and respectfully bowed.

"Nice. Now go back to work or I'll cut off yer beak and shove it up yer-"

Before he could even complete that statement, the underling had run off back to his post. The serious expression on the lycanroc switched to one of amusement, "Heh. Works every time."

He then turned to look at the waning moon in the sky, a scowl appearing back in his muzzle, "now then. Since Oni has been quiet, I assume the human is still under the enemy's control."

He crossed his arms, pink eyes glowing in the dark, "don't worry, little laddie. We'll bring ya back home."